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The Arrival of the $70,000 Pickup

The only pickup ever made with a carpeted bed was a Ford product.

The Lincoln Blackwood survived in the United States for a single year after being touted as a luxury truck. People didn’t buy it because it had one major problem: It couldn’t perform as an actual truck.

The Blackwood was sold for the 2002 model year and available with rear-wheel drive only. The exterior of the bed had aluminum pinstripes running over fake wood inserts, while the interior was finished in plush carpeting and covered with a powered tonneau cover.

Truck guys laughed at the truck, while luxury buyers scoffed at the idea of needing a $52,000 truck.

Fast-forward to the 2016 model year, and Ford seems to have figured out the equation for building a luxury pickup that will be able to get used as a truck.

On top of the opulence expected from a luxury sedan, the F-150 Limited is powered by Ford’s 3.5 liter EcoBoost V6, good for 365 horsepower and 420 pound-feet of torque, which will allow Ford’s range-topper to haul up to 10,000 pounds. The engine is mated to Ford’s six-speed automatic gearbox (a 10-speed is slated to arrive in 2017), and will be available with selectable electronic four-wheel drive. Despite being loaded down with all these goodies, Ford predicts that the truck should still return a respectable 17 miles per gallon city, and 24 highway.

That should also erase all memories of the failed Blackwood and show that the words “luxury” and “pickup” really do go well together. It’s not for everyone, but cowboys who manage ranches the size of small countries should make sure this one’s on their shopping list.